Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: a meta-analytic review.
Abstract
We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs
on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of
program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly,
however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based "best practices"
are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth
from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit
from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to personal
vulnerabilities have varied substantially in relation to program characteristics,
with a noteworthy potential evident for poorly implemented programs to actually have
an adverse effect on such youth. Recommendations include greater adherence to guidelines
for the design and implementation of effective mentoring programs as well as more
in-depth assessment of relationship and contextual factors in the evaluation of programs.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdolescentAdolescent Behavior
Benchmarking
Community Participation
Counseling
Decision Making, Organizational
Efficiency, Organizational
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Mentors
Program Development
Program Evaluation
Risk-Taking
Social Adjustment
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14943Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1023/A:1014628810714Publication Info
DuBois, David L; Holloway, Bruce E; Valentine, Jeffrey C; & Cooper, Harris (2002). Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: a meta-analytic review. Am J Community Psychol, 30(2). pp. 157-197. 10.1023/A:1014628810714. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14943.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Harris M. Cooper
Hugo L. Blomquist Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience
Harris Cooper received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University
of Connecticut in 1975. From 1977 to 2003, he was on the faculty at the University
of Missouri. In 2003, he moved to Duke University where he is now Hugo L. Blomquist
Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience. Dr. Cooper
has been a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, the University of Oregon, and
the Russell Sage Fou

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